In one type of conventional weighing system, material is supplied from a very large vibrating bin (having a one thousand pound capacity, for example) to a gated bin. A gate periodically opens to release material accumulate in the gated bin to a weighing hopper. Upon accumulation of a desired load of material in the hopper, the hopper releases the load.
Some conventional systems of this type have employed two vibrating conveyor paths from the vibrating bin, each path having a gate, for alternately feeding a single weighing hopper.
However, conventional weighing systems have been extremely heavy and bulky. Furthermore, conventional weighing systems have been incapable of rapidly weighing many loads.
In contrast, the inventive apparatus is portable due to its simple, compact, and light-weight design. Further, the inventive apparatus is capable of extremely rapid operation, with a weighing rate of up to thirty loads per minute or more for a wide range of materials (such as frozen foods).